


The Baker's Son

by lifelesslyndsey



Series: The Baker's Son Series [2]
Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, F/M, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-25
Updated: 2012-04-25
Packaged: 2017-11-04 07:33:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/391344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifelesslyndsey/pseuds/lifelesslyndsey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Katniss volunteers for Prim, it's Gale's name that's chosen from the bowl.  Peeta volunteers for Gale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Baker's Son

**Author's Note:**

> The Hunger Games Series are in no way mine, nor do I profit by any of the following words. 
> 
> AU- Instead of Peeta's name being pulled, it's Gales. Doesn't mean the boy isn't going to the Games though.

Peeta wasn't surprised to see Gale during the eleventh hour visits. Indeed, he'd have been more surprised had Gale not made an appearance. Peeta didn't say a word; he had nothing to say here. He supposed though, that was not the case with Gale. 

“Why?” The older boy -pride and only pride kept him from calling Gale a man- asked, his voice steady and even. The only tell was the hard clench of his jaw- Gale was just as close to losing it as Peeta. 

He couldn't look at him when he answers. “Because I couldn't volunteer for Katniss.” 

Gale makes a distressed sound, like a choke he couldn't quite smother. “I know about your...your thing for Katniss. I know you like her.” 

Peeta wanted to protest -he loves her- but considering he'd never spoken a word to Katniss Everdeen, he knew it would only make him look foolish. “Then you already know why.” He sighs, and rakes a hand through his hair. He looks like a fool beside Gale, a child and a fool. 

Gale didn't say so, though. He looked at Peeta sadly. “You're a bakers son.” It was a statement and a condemnation. Peeta knew what he was really saying, though. 

“I am. I can't hunt, or forage, and I probably can't kill.” Peeta suspected the latter wasn't true. “Which is why I had to volunteer. I can't...I can't look after them, like you can. If you and Katniss were both taken, who would look after them?” 

Gale sighed, like maybe he understood, if only a little. “Prim and Mrs. Everdeen.” 

“And your family. Your mother, and brother and sister.” Prim and Mrs. Everdeen might have been first on Peeta's mind, but he hadn't forgotten Gale's family as well. Without you or Katniss...but I'm not like you two. I can't do what you do. I'm a bakers son, and I've never had to support any one. How could I let you go, knowing there would be no one left to take care of them?” 

With a disparaging sound, Gale laughs. It sounds half a step from a sob and that, Peeta understood. “You really are just that...that kind. You're going to die, Peeta.” 

He swallowed the bubble of fear that formed inside him and lifted his chin. “But not before Katniss.” 

It's Gale's tears that undo him. The slid down his grim face in silence. “I want to hate you, you know?” He finally said. “Because it's clear you love her. You...you took my place with every intention of sending her home, and dying yourself. You know, you're kind of ruining your chances.” 

“Gale,” Peeta laughed, and if it's broken, who can blame him? “I never stood a chance. I took your place with every intention of dying and sending her home to you.” It was a bitter thought, but no less truthful for it. 

Gale gave him a long look, mouth pulling into a frown. “Katniss and I aren't like that. She doesn't see me like that. Never has and...I don't think she ever will.” He looked resigned. “So really, you did have a chance. Realistically though, you probably could have just talked to her. Suicide missions seem a little much, don't you think?” 

He's tired of the conversation. “I did what I had too, for Katniss. I couldn't take her place, so I took yours. Because...because even if I can't save her, she'd want that. To know that Prim is okay, that you're okay. Call it my grand gesture.” 

Gale looked almost as tired as Peeta in that moment. “You really love her. You'd have to, to be this crazy. Why didn't you ever just talk to her?” 

“Because she was always standing next to you.” It was the easiest answer. 

 

With a long, searching look, Gale nodded shortly, just as the Peacekeepers came to take him away. “And now she's standing next to you.”

Not that did him much good, Peeta thought. “Will she kill me?” He asked, as Gale headed for the door. The older boy's feet faltered, and it was telling enough. 

“Maybe. Probably.”

“Good.” If Peeta was going to die for Katniss, he wanted to know she wouldn't let it be in vain. “That's good.” 

“I want to hate you,” Gale said, standing at the door ignoring the insistent hands of the Peacekeepers. “Because I'll never be able to repay you for this. I'll never even have the chance.”


End file.
